Former young historian of the year, Paul Gleeson, talks to John Rainsford about a remarkable renovation project in Kilrush  

IN the dead of what was a chillingly cold winter night on January 25, 1917, 354 men onboard the SS Laurentic lost their lives in Lough Swilly, Donegal.

  HIGH standards were maintained and crowds came out in big numbers to support the annual North-West Clare Agricultural Show in Ennistymon last weekend. While many winners from last year came back to defend their titles, most of the cups travelled to different destinations this year. The two-day event, held in the grounds of The Falls Hotel, kicked off on Saturday with the jumping events and a very attractive display of vintage cars, tractors and machinery. Judging the horse section was George Chapman from Gorey. He said there was an excellent turnout for the show, one of the best he had seen for a long time. He added that it was unusual to have a filly named as supreme champion of the show, describing the Ennistymon champion as a very correct filly. The showgrounds was a hive of activity from early Sunday morning, as the main parts of the show got underway. While some of the showing classes did not …

EVEN with the Gathering hoping to tempt those of Irish descent to visit the country of their forebears, we still tend to think only in terms of North America, England and Australia.

WITH one in every 100 people experiencing bipolar disorder, a new campaign is in train to draw attention to the condition.

SHANNON’S Chris Bryan is heading for next month’s FINA Swimming World Championships in Barcelona, having been named as one of just four members of the Irish team.

  Clare 2-20Waterford 1-15 FITNESS was a key factor as Clare recorded a first Munster Senior Championship win in five years when overcoming Waterford at Semple Stadium in Thurles on Sunday. Things didn’t look good at half time when Clare trailed by four points but improved form in the half-back and midfield areas after the break saw Clare take control and emerge as deserving winners to face Cork in the semi-final on June 23. There is a lot of room for improvement ahead of the clash with the Leesiders and if Clare repeat some of the mistakes made on Sunday, it could prove very costly next time out. That said, credit must be given to the players for the manner in which they fought back when things looked to be going against them. Showing two changes from the team named on Wednesday night, Clare lined out with a starting line-up as revealed in The Clare Champion last week. Cian Dillon …

SELECTOR Louis Mulqueen agreed there was pressure on Clare going into Sunday’s championship tilt with Waterford. “Coming into the game, it was all potential, Clare hadn’t won a championship game in five years, yes, there was a lot of pressure that way. We knew and had confidence in these fellas that if they performed, we would do well. We started out of the blocks brilliantly, we went four points to no score up, then one or two mistakes were seriously punished, a goal and two points came from those mistakes.”